Birmingham-area hospital officials are asking Alabamians to take all possible precautions to stop the spread of the disease, including avoiding holiday gatherings with people who do not live in their households.
In a gathering of 20 people, there's more than a 50% chance that one person in that gathering will be infectious and contagious with COVID-19, according to Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson.
Alabama will likely receive its first shipment of a COVID-19 vaccine in January, according to health care experts. It was previously predicted that Alabama would receive the vaccine in December.
Research from Georgia Tech University shows there is a one in five chance you will catch the virus if you gather with a group of ten people in Jefferson County.
"We don’t want to send money back to Washington. We want to make sure that it’s spent here and for us to do that, we need to make sure we’ve looked at every avenue possible," said Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin wants to use $7 million from the reserve fund to bring back more than 130 furloughed city employees. But the city council is not sold.
Following the release of a new dashboard, state education officials are optimistic about the number of coronavirus cases in Alabama schools. But challenges remain.
Live theater generally means tight quarters for performers and audience. Some Birmingham theater groups are finding ways to make it work in the pandemic.
Alabama could see another surge of COVID-19 in the coming weeks. But a vaccine could be around the coroner, according to the country's top infectious disease expert.
The city of Birmingham's newly passed 2021 fiscal budget is nearly $50 million smaller than last year. Among the numerous budget cuts was funding to external nonprofits.